Center punch and gauge



Oct. 14, 1958 J, G, HOLSTEN 2,855,693

CENTER PUNCH AND GAUGE FledSept. 7, 1955 IN VEN TOR.

'Ja/21 alf/015i@ ATTDRN EYB This invention relates to measuringtoolsandinstruments used for accurately locating a` center of a hole to bedrilled or for cutting an end surface of a piece of material, such as arailroad rail, and in particular, a gauge having a center punch incombination therewith wherein with the gauge positioned on an end of arailroad rail the center of a bolt hole in the web of the rail may beaccurately indicated by striking an extended end ofthe punch, andwherein by positioning the gauge at the end of a rail the rail may beaccurately marked 'for sawing.

The purpose of` this, invention is to provide` a gauge for accuratelymarking ends of railroad rails and which is also adapted to accuratelylocate the centers. of the bolt holes particularly for the fish platesat the ends of rails.

Various types of gauges, stencils, templets, and the like have beenprovided for accurately locating centers of holes or openings, such asbolt holes, however, although such devices are particularly useful onflat surfaces, it is diiiicult to locate the position of a center on asurface, such as the web of a rail, where obstructions are provided onboth edges. Owing to the cross section of a railroad rail, it is alsodiicult to position a square for marking a guide line by which a squaresurface may be cut at the end of a rail.

With these thoughts in mind, this invention contemplates a gauge havinga bar formed to correspond with a side surface of a railroad rail withone end extended partly over the head of the rail and with the otherextended beyond a flange at the side of the rail and carrying a steelbar adapted to be positioned against the edge of the flange of the railto accurately position the bar positioned against the side of the rail,and a center punch mounted in the bar positioned against the side of therail and having a spring for urging the punch outwardly whereby uponstriking an extended end of the punch a center for a bolt hole isindicated in the surface of the web thereof.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a gauge foraccurately determining the position of centers of bolt holes of railroadrails.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gauge for accuratelymarking an end of a railroad rail to facilitate cutting the end of therail perpendicular to the body thereof.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a gauge having acenter punch in combination therewith for accurately indicating centersof bolt holes of railroad rails in which the gauge is provided with ascale bar adapted to be positioned against the edge of the flange of arail whereby distances between bolt holes and also bolt holes and endsof rails may be accurately ascertained.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination centerpunch and gauge for locating bolt holes of railroad rails and forcutting ends of rails in which the device is of a simple and economicalconstruction.

United States Patent ice With these and other objects and advantages inview, the invention embodies a gauge bar patterned to be positionedagainst a side surface of a railroad rail with an arm extended acrossthe head of the rail and with a scale bar carried by the lower end ofthe gauge bar adapted to be positioned against the edge of a flange atone side of the rail, and a center punch carried by the gauge bar andadapted to be used for indicating centers of bolt holes to be drilled inthe web of the rail.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description, taken in connection with the drawing, wherein:

Figure l is a cross section through the center punch and gauge showingthe device positioned upon a railroad rail, the rail also being shown insection.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view showing the end of a railroad railwith the gauge and center punch set to locate the center of a bolt holespaced from the end of the rail.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2 illustratingthe position of the scale bar of thel gauge for locating the centerpunch a predetermined distance from the end of the rail.

Figure 4 is a cross section through the center punch of the gauge withthe parts shown on an enlarged scale and with the punch shown in theposition of s'wedging a center opening in the surface of the web of arail, a hammer shown in the striking position against the outer end ofthe punch being indicated in broken lines. t

Referring now to the drawing, wherein like reference characters denotecorresponding parts, the improved center punch and gauge of thisinvention includes a gauge bar lin, a scale bar il, guides i2. and 13are positioned on and welded to 'the upper surface of the scale bar forretaining the gauge bar and center punch in accurate positions fordefinitely locating the center of a bolt hole, and a center punch ifihaving a point l5 slidably mounted in a cup shaped casing llo andresiliently urged outwardly by a spring i7 positioned between the baseof the casing and a collar i3 on the shank or stern of the punch.

The gauge bar l@ is provided with a lower inclined section 1'@ on theend of which the scale bar 11 is secured, such as by rivets or welding,and an upper section 20 with an arm 2l on the upper end whereby with theintermediate part of the gauge bar positioned against a web 22 of a rail23 the arm 21 extends over a head 24 of the rail with the lower portioni9 upon a flange 25 at one side of the rail.

With the guides l2 and i3 positioned on the upper surface of the scalebar il they may be extended over the edge of the flange 25 of a railwhile the longitudinal edge of the scale bar is in engagement with theedge of the flange 2S and with the inner edge of a projection 26 of theguide l2 alined with the end surface of the rail and with the remainderof the guide l2 and the entire guide 13 in Contact with the surface ofthe flange 25 the gauge may be accurately positioned and definitelyretained in position as the center punch is driven into the surface ofthe web of the rail. The guide 13 is provided with a projection 27similar to the projection 26 whereby the gauge is adapted to be used oneither end of the rail. The scale bar 1l is provided with graduations 2Sto faciiitate measuring distances between bolt holes or between the endof the rail and the first bolt hole. The gauge bar is adapted to beprovided in different sizes to correspond with rails of differentweights.

The casing i6 of the center punch isrprovided with a threaded boss 29lthat is threaded into -an opening 30 of the gauge bzar l@ `and theouter end of the casing is provided with internal threads 31 in which aclosure or nut 32 is threaded and, as illustrated in Figure 4, the nutto the `outer position by the spring 17. With the parts assembled asillustrated and described, a gauge for a railroad rail of a particularweight is placed against the side of the rail .as shown in Figures l and2 with the distance of the rst bolt hole indicated on the scale bar 11,as illus -trated in Figure 3, and with the parts in position the centerpunch is driven inwardly by a hammer or the like whereby the center ofthe iirst bolt hole is Iaccurately indicated on the web yof the Thegauge is adapted to be moved 'along the rail with the distances betweenthe bolt holes measured by the scale bar so that the bolt holes are'adapted to be accurately positioned.

With the conventional method of measuring and marking centers lof boltholes, it is appreciated that some holes may be high and some low :andsome to one side of the center and with the holes inaccuratelypositioned shear stresses are placed in bolts causing rail joints tobreak or spread.

With the scale bar retained against the edge of the flange, the gaugebar is adapted to be used as the blade of la square for accuratelymarking the position of a saw cut at the end of a rail so that ends ofrails may be in meeting relation with the ends of both railsperpendicular to the base surfaces of the langes.

ItYY will be understood that modiiications, within the scope of theappended claims, may be made in the design and arrangement of the partswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In a gauge and center punch for use on a railroad rail, the combinationwhich comprises argauge ba-r shaped to conform to the side surface of arailroad rail with one end positioned on the head of the rail and theother on a ange 'at one side of the rail, a scale bar having guidesthereon and carried by the lower end -of the gauge bar, said guides eachhaving a projection thereon Ywhich is positioned in relation to thescale bar so that the inner edge of the projection will be alined withthe edge of the ange of a rail against which the gauge bar ispositioned, a cylindrical casing mounted on and extended from the gaugebar, a center punch slidably mounted in the casing, and a spring in thecasing positioned between the base of the casing and a collar on thecenter punch for urging the punch outwardly away from the web of therail, said casing being positioned in the intermediate part of the gaugebar and `the distance of the center thereof from the upper surface ofthe head of the rail corresponding to the -distance from the uppersurface of the head of bolt holes to be formed through the web of therail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS532,265 Cornell Jan, 8, 1895 724,185 -Hughes Mar. 31, 1903 888,377 WoodMay 19, 1908 921,488 Virtue May 11, 1909 1,046,187 `Hernlund Dec. 3,1912 1,469,395 Richard Oct. 2, 1923 1,525,355 Anderson Feb.'3, 19252,560,756 Bollons July 17, 1951

